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The street where they lived – Foredale Cottages, Horton in Ribblesdale

This is the second in my new series ‘the street where they lived’ and I am staying with the story of my nannie, Florrie Musgrove

Florrie was born on 6 January 1897 and she lived at Foredale Cottages, just outside the Yorkshire Dales village of Horton in Ribblesdale.

These quarry workers’ cottages at Foredale are a prominent feature of the landscape in this part of Ribblesdale. The quarry the occupants worked produced limestone for the nearby lime burning industry. The quarry was opened in 1878 and sold in 1882 to a newly formed company called the Ribblesdale Lime and Flag Quarry Co Ltd. There was no mention of the cottages at this time but they do appear on the 1909 OS map for the area. It is likely that they were built in the 1890s and were originally a shorter row, extended at a later date.

Foredale Cottages and Quarry

I can’t be sure which of the cottages Florrie and her family occupied. However I do have other members of the Musgrove family living in the cottages in 1891. Two of Florries uncles, Harrison Musgrove and George Albert Musgrove together with their families are recorded there in the census.

In 1901 my 2x great grandfather, Thomas Turner (Florries grandfather) is living at No.2 and one of his daughters Ellen and her husband Robert William Thistlethwaite are living at No.9 with their two sons.

So my family have a connection with Foredale Cottages and the limestone quarry for at least ten years or more at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century.

In the 21st century you will need to pay in excess of £135,000 to buy No. 2 Foredale Cottages. And numbers 5 and 6 have been knocked through to create one 5 five bedroom property – this is currently for sale here at £215,000 – if my lottery numbers come up I might even be tempted.

Interesting, and a little ironic that I have been one of the main developers of Foredale Quarry transforming it into a excellent and popular rock climbing venue in recent years. Even more ironic is the fact that most of the current owners of Foredale cottages have conspired to have the farmer block access to climbers because the previously agreed path is alleged to ‘invade their peace and tranquility’.

I don’t know of any direct connection between my family and the Musgrove’s of Foredale but my Grandfather (also a Tom Musgrove) hailed from north east, close to Newcastle.